Extreme security

KIMBALL, Neb. -- In an era of rainbow-colored terror warnings, the underground home of Don and Charlene Zwonitzer makes duct tape and plastic sheeting seem like the first little pig's house of straw.

The Zwonitzers figure they could hold out a year without having to leave their home in an Atlas E missile silo.

"Maybe longer than that," said Don Zwonitzer, 55, a retired electrical engineer. "The two of us could live longer than that. But we would probably open up our doors to everyone we can."

While it may seem an improbable castle, the Zwonitzers are not alone. As many as a dozen of the nation's former missile silos have been turned into homes, says Ed Peden, who lives in an Atlas E silo outside Dover, Kan., and helps sell the sites.

Built in 1960, Atlas E silos not only cradled the most powerful weapon of the time, they were designed to withstand a 1-megaton blast a mile away. The Zwonitzers have topped that off with a nuclear-biological-chemical air filtration system; generators, batteries, solar panels and a wind turbine; a huge, mostly underground, greenhouse; fish ponds; and stockpiles of food and clothes.

"I go to sleep at night and I don't worry about natural disasters or manmade ones," said Charlene Zwonitzer, 53.

Most silo-dwellers say the principal attraction is owning an unusual historic site and having the space of a mansion -- 15,000 square feet -- with heating and maintenance costs more like a cabin. Still, its security system is considered a plus.

"After 9-11, our calls increased probably fivefold," said Peden, who sells silos through his company 20th Century Castles.

Sales have been flat, however, due to the soft economy and rising cost of moving into a missile silo.

While a rough Atlas E silo sells for about $150,000, it can cost that much again to make it habitable. When solid-fuel missiles rendered the liquid-fuel Atlas E obsolete in 1965, the government all but gave away the silos to farmers, ranchers and local governments.

Pollution from cleaning chemicals can be a problem, although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will drill water wells and monitor pollution for people living at polluted missile sites.

Silos as schools, museums

Some silos have found other uses. One near Holton, Kan., has been a high school more than 30 years. Another is a museum and a records warehouse for Weld County, Colo. And one near Chugwater, Wyo., was until recently a constant-temperature environment for machining precision metal parts.

For Charlene Zwonitzer, the silo 140 miles northeast of Denver is her dream home.

"I love it down here," she said. "I love it more than I thought I would."

The Zwonitzers have covered the 40-foot-deep blast pit at the far end of the missile bay with a greenhouse roof, and built metal terraces up the slanted wall. The old generator room has become a cavernous recreation room with a dining table, hot tub, pool table, electric organ and an American flag on the wall.

A big-screen TV in the living room provides above-ground views by way of a video camera that swivels and zooms. A computer with a voice-recognition program controls the home's electrical and security systems.

Peden said the silos provide security against the elements, as well. He and his wife Dianna, 49, enjoy a natural underground climate in the 70s even as the Kansas summer bears down at over 100 degrees.

"Tornadoes don't blow it away, termites don't eat into it," Peden said. "It's going to be here for centuries. I like putting my energy into that kind of project."

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On the Net:

Atlas missile history: http://www.atlasmissilesilo.com/

20th Century Castles: http://www.missilebases.com/